Late-game struggles hurt SMU in 77-72 loss to Wichita State
Season-long late-game struggles continued for the Mustangs as they fell Sunday in Wichita against the Shockers.
Score: Wichita State 77, SMU 72
Record: 13-7, 4-3 in AAC
Next Game: The Mustangs play host to Tulane at 6:00 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2)
Player of the Game: G Chuck Harris. A better night for him with 15 points and 2-3 from the arc. He also added five rebounds and four assists
Leading scorers: Harris (15), Zhuric Phelps (12), Jalen Smith (11)
Sequence of the Game: Leading 70-65 with less than three minutes to play, the Mustangs were outscored 12-2 down the stretch. They didn’t score for the final 1:46. They had some opportunities. But Sam Williamson missed the front end of a one-and-one with 47 seconds to play. Wichita State took the lead for good at 73-72 on a great backdoor layup by Ronnie DeGray III with 39 seconds remaining. Phelps drove the middle of the paint but left his runner short with 22 seconds left. The Shockers made four free throws to seal it.
The rest of the story: This is no longer about SMU being this close to getting over the hump. These late-game struggles for the Mustangs are chronic on both ends of the floor. In these two road games at North Texas and Wichita State, the Mustangs didn’t execute on offense and were very poor on defense. You don’t go 0-6 in games decided by single digits without there being some common denominator. Whether it’s the plan, the execution or both, SMU is giving the appearance that it’s not tough enough to win these games. Coaches talk about having mentally tough teams. Well, this team has a way to go.
Notable Stat I: While Harris and Phelps led the Mustangs in scoring, they combined for only seven points in the second half. Phelps two points were at the foul line.
Notable Stat II: More struggles on the defensive end for the Mustangs. Wichita State shot 47 percent for the game and 38 percent from the arc. SMU opponents are shooting 37.8 overall and 26.9 percent from 3-point range.
Final Word: The Mustangs had an opportunity to start creating more awareness about their growth had they at least split this road trip to Denton and Wichita. But what these two losses did was kill any momentum they had following the 103-point effort against Tulsa on Jan. 20. Now, SMU just looks like another middle-of-the-road team in college basketball with no flare to it. We’ll see what that looks like Thursday when Tulane visits. Every team faces adversity at some point of its season. Well, this is about as tough as it gets for the Mustangs. This is their low point for 2023-24. You’re going to learn a lot about what this program is made of over the next couple of weeks. It either rises above or it crashes.
